October installation for Dr Loewe, 39, as St Paul’s new Dean

Archbishop Philip Freier will install the new Dean of Melbourne, the Revd Dr Andreas Loewe, at St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday 13 October at 5pm.

Dr Loewe, 39, will be the second youngest of Melbourne’s 15 Deans in the 165-year history of the Diocese. He succeeds Bishop Mark Burton, who resigned for personal reasons earlier this year.

The new Dean has been Senior Chaplain of Trinity College at the University of Melbourne since 2009 and is also Gavan Lecturer in Theology at Trinity.

Dr Loewe said he was keen to contribute to the life of St Paul’s as a “flourishing, growing and welcoming space in the heart of the city”.

“I am very honoured and I am delighted,” Dr Loewe said. “I very much look forward to joining the Cathedral team.”

Archbishop Freier said in announcing the appointment on 17 June: “I am impressed with the Chapter’s decision to bring about generational change in the Cathedral’s leadership. Andreas Loewe will bring energy and theological acumen to this important role, for the great benefit of both the Church and the City of Melbourne.”

The new Dean first saw St Paul’s at Christmas 2000, on his first visit to Melbourne with his future wife Dr Katherine Firth, the daughter of two Melbourne priests, Len and Jill. Dr Firth is Academic Skills Adviser at the University of Melbourne, a visiting research fellow at Trinity College and an Examining Chaplain for the Diocese of Melbourne, Dr Loewe was born in Munich, Germany, and baptised in the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Gunzburg.

He grew up in the historic German university city of Heidelberg and did tertiary studies at Oxford and Cambridge. His qualifications include Bachelor of Arts in Theology (1st Class Honours), Master of Philosophy in Ecclesiastical History and Master of Arts from Oxford University, and Doctor of Philosophy in Ecclesiastical History from Cambridge University. In 2011, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society UK in recognition of his academic contribution to Church History.

Dr Loewe was ordained a deacon at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford on 1 July 2001 and priested on 30 June 2002 at St Mary’s Parish Church, Slough, near Windsor.

He served in Slough and at the University Church of Great St Mary’s Cambridge, where he established a large and active “Fresh Expression” of church in the Michaelhouse Centre.

The new Dean said he was keen to work with groups of people in leading, nurturing, resourcing and building up the congregations of the Cathedral; enabling them to reach out to under-represented constituencies through established and Fresh Expressions of Church; and encouraging people from many diverse backgrounds in discovering their own gifts and responding to God’s call in their lives.

The Chapter (governing body) of the Cathedral elected Dr Loewe on 12 June. This senior role in the Anglican Church is not only of significance for the Diocese but liaises closely with the City of Melbourne. The Dean is responsible for both the pastoral leadership of the Cathedral ministry as well as its outreach programs.

The youngest Dean of Melbourne, the Revd Dr Stuart Barton Babbage (1953-62), was 37 when appointed to St Paul’s in 1953 and concurrently as Principal of Ridley College, having served as Dean of Sydney since 1947.